# Adas Polo o Morgh Chicken with Lentil Rice

**Chef:** Divya P  
**Cookbook:** Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat  
**Potluck Date:** November 18, 2023  

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## Recipe

pological and sociological side of it: how they were educated, how
they used to spend their day, what their eating habits were, their religious
customs and how those were connected to food and ingredients, and other
such questions. I found the answers in history books and essays, in Greek
mythology and in the writings of ancient masters, including Homer and
Herodotus.
I believe it is our duty to treasure and preserve our culinary traditions and
recipes. All of them, if we can: recipes that evolved out of need and poverty
and were then forgotten; recipes that have already been preserved for
centuries or altered along the way; recipes or ingredients with symbolic
meanings; recipes that require time and skill. They are our history and
heritage.
My passion for gastronomy is constantly alive and growing. It gives me great
pleasure to share in this book the knowledge and experience of Greek cuisine
and culture that I have lovingly built up. I hope that through this I can
contribute to the revival of old recipes that may be lesser known but worth
preserving. At the same time, I like to dig into the story of each dish, the

traditions associated with it, or its symbolic meaning. I hope to transport the
reader to the Greece I love so much, and to present through each recipe the
different regions and islands, their local produce, folk tales and traditions.
I have chosen to divide this book into chapters that offer an ingredient-centric
approach to cooking, selecting the core foods that have defined Greek cuisine
for several centuries. Recipes cater for all levels of cook, for different styles
of palate, flavour or dietary requirement. While I encompass all kinds of
recipes, including those for meat and seafood, my main chapter ingredients
are plant-based, because plant-based dishes are the true essence of the
traditional Greek kitchen. Meat is there, but it would have been used in
smaller amounts in order to add flavour and protein rather than be the actual
star of the dish – with certain exceptions, of course, that were mostly related
to special occasions.
By focusing on one main ingredient, or the source – such as the hive, or a
whole plant such as the vine or olive tree – and showing the many different
ways it can be used, I aim to present recipes that are accessible, sustainable
and cost-efficient while also being satisfying, nutritious and, of course,
delicious. Greek cuisine is shaped creatively in order to make use of
everything available and I feel ultimate fulfilment when I have used all
possible parts of an ingredient; this is the greatest way to honour and respect
it.
Simple, flavourful, comforting, nourishing, and certainly seasonal food is
what I aim for when I cook, and it’s what I usually crave to eat and share
with others. With this book, I invite you to explore the wonderful secrets of
my own Greek kitchen, with all its history and heartwarming tales.
Kali orexi!
1
1
 ‘bon appétit’ in Greek

The Roots and Evolution of Greek Cuisine
Greek cuisine is shaped by a prodigious climate, diverse landscape and
abundant natural resources. The ancient knowledge of working with the land
and the sea, being in coherence with the seasons and respectful to what nature
has to offer, is evident in the local gastronomy.
Gastronomy is an ancient Greek word, deriving from the words gastir
(stomach) and nomia (knowledge, law), literally meaning the ‘rules/law of
the stomach’. Both words, gastir and nomia, have been used in the Greek
language since Homer’s time, but the term is actually attributed to
Archestratus, the 4
th
 century BCE Greek poet, who was possibly the first to
study and write to such an extent about the pleasures of eating and the laws of
appetite. In his work, Hydipathia or Gastronomia
1
, the gourmet writer of
antiquity wittily describes the secrets of ancient Greek gastronomy, shares full
recipes, and dedicates whole chapters to wine, pulses and fish – ingredients
that remain staples in present-day Greek cuisine. Athenaeus, in his book
Deipnosophistae (Dinner Sophists) written in the early 3
rd
 century CE, also
provides valuable information about eating habits and particular recipes; his
book describes in detail banquet conversations on food, literature and the arts.
Several other writings, including Homer’s stories, Aristophanes’ plays,
Plato’s Symposium and the works of Hippocrates, who preached: ‘Let food
be your medicine and medicine be your food’, clarify ancient eating habits.
Archaeological excavations have also proved invaluable, with some of the
oldest findings dating to the Bronze Age Aegean Civilization
2
 that brought to
light not only the main ingredients that were used, but also specialized
equipment and cooking methods. We know, for instance, that the ancient
Greeks made sausages, and matured cheese in caves; they grilled skewered
meat (similar to today’s souvlaki) on krateftes
3
, and they loved garon (a
fermented fish sauce later named ‘garum’ by the Romans) and served it as a
condiment with almost every dish. They baked breads and pies – which in fact
were a particularly popular snack in 5
th
 century BCE Athens. We know the diet

was generally based on three main ingredients: the olive, vine and cereal.
Other ingredients commonly used included pulses, honey, vegetables and fruit,
nuts and seeds, fish and seafood, herbs, snails, eggs, cheese, and a variety of
specific meats and game, although meat in general was consumed mostly by
the upper classes or on special occasions. The use of herbs was extensive,
with a wide variety that included thyme, coriander (cilantro), parsley, dill,
basil, marjoram, rosemary, bay, oregano and others. Apart from in cooking,
herbs were also used medicinally.
Trade was a big part of the economy, bringing cultural interaction and
exchange. The ancient Greeks were organized merchants and seamen who
travelled a lot around the region and were consequently inspired by other
great cultures such as the Assyrians, the Phoenicians (Canaanites) and the
Egyptians. Several findings around the Mediterranean region, including
shipwrecks, have revealed much about ancient commerce, imports and
exports. Greeks imported spices and other ‘exotic’ goods such as aniseed
from Egypt and rosinweed from Libya, and they exported olive oil, olives and
wine, among other goods.
Mythology provides another excellent source of information about the diet and
culinary traditions of the ancient Greeks. The foundations of the diet are
summarized with the three Oenotrophae (the ‘winegrowers’), the
granddaughters of God Dionysus: Elais, whose name derives from elia, which
in Greek means olive, her sister Spermo, deriving from sperma which in
Greek means seed, and Oeno, deriving from oenos, which means wine. The
three sisters represent the three main ingredients of the Greek diet: olive oil,
wheat and wine. This core diet endured over the centuries. Many recipes
were adopted and further developed by the Romans, who were the most
proficient disseminators of culinary traditions in the West.
The diet and cuisine during the Byzantine era (395–1453 CE) remained largely
the same, aside from the introduction of a handful of ingredients, such as
nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, botargo and caviar. Valuable information can be
gleaned about everyday Byzantine life from the 10
th
 century CE dictionary
titled Souda, and extensive and remarkable literary research on the specific
subject has been done by Sir Richard Dalby, among others. This research
highlights that anise-infused spirits (the predecessors of what was later named
ouzo) were prepared and offered as aperitifs, and exported throughout the

Mediterranean; baking was considered a prestigious occupation for the
Byzantines, while desserts gradually became more elaborate and complex,
with an extensive use of milk in certain recipes, such as rice puddings and
cream pies (like galaktoboureko and bougatsa); fruit preserves and compotes
were also partic

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